On our last morning in LA we went out for breakfast with Jamie and then he dropped us off at the Greyhound station. We caught a bus to downtown LA and then transferred to another bus to get to San Diego in order to see our friends Micah and Keith. They live in Pacific Beach, which was an easy city bus ride 20 minutes north of the city.

Micah had left a key under their doormat for us, so we dumped our packs in their apartment and walked around Pacific Beach for a few hours. Pacific Beach has everything. There are several thrift shops, a million places to eat and drink, at least 5 tattoo parlors, smoke shops, clothing stores, a Trader Joe's, and just about anything else you could possibly want. All of this is within 3-4 blocks of the Pacific Ocean on one side, and Mission Bay on the other. Becky and I walked around the main drag, then along the beach (they have a paved walkway next to the beach that is the answer to the East Coast "boardwalk"), and then we found a place that had $1.50 fish tacos

We finally wandered back to Micah and Keith's apartment and met up with them - we hadn't seen them since the last time we were out here many years ago. A couple of friends of theirs showed up and we all went out for cheesesteaks and beer. A note on food in California - it's common knowledge of easterners that most pizza sucks in California, the general concensus being that the water just isn't the same out here and therefore the dough just doesn't taste the same. I was told that the cheesesteak place where we ate actually flies their bread out here from Philadelphia - and it was a damn good cheesesteak. After dinner we went out for a few pitchers of beer, where I proceeded to drink a tiny bit too much and then began insisting that it wouldn't be a big deal to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from North to South (apparently the weather would be absolutely horrific if you did that, which I couldn't understand in my inebriated state).

We've spent 2 more days here, eating delicious food (they have awesome mexican food here and you can get beef heart kebabs from a Peruvian restaurant that are outstanding, for example), walking around, and just hanging out in general - very relaxing. The weather tends to be very nice during the day, and it gets pretty chilly at night - I really like long pants and fleece jacket weather, so I'm definitely a fan even if it doesn't snow

. We also went to REI for some last minute shopping. We all agreed that my sleeping bag sucked, so I went and bit the bullet and bought a new 15 degree synthetic for $139. Keith knows a lot about hiking and camping equipment, and he noticed that Becky wasn't fitted for a pack properly, so she swapped her pack for a better fitting one. We also mailed a few things home - some inventory we picked up in LA, and my old sleeping bag.

Tonight is our last night in the country. Tomorrow morning Keith has offerred to take us to the airport at 5:30 am to catch our 7am flight to Cabo, where we have hostel reservations for 2 nights. After that, we begin our trek across Mexico on our way through Central America. Tonight we had a Roast Chicken feast prepared by Keith. It was our second Thanksgiving-like dinner, with cranberry, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and asparagus - outstanding.

It's been really great hanging out with Micah and Keith and their friends because they do a LOT of hiking and camping, so we were able to talk with them about our upcoming adventure and get a lot of good advice and insight.